A college professor had his sociology class go into the
Baltimore slums to get case histories of 200 young boys. They were asked to
write an evaluation of each boy’s future. In every case the students wrote, “He
hasn’t got a chance.”
Twenty-five years later, another sociology professor came
across the earlier study. He had his students follow up on the project to see
what had happened to these boys. With the exception of 20 boys who had moved
away or not contacted, the students learned that 176 of the remaining 180 had
achieved more than ordinary success as lawyers, doctors and businessmen.
